Unexpected
by AureliaAndMidnight
Summary: In which neither of our oblivious heroes are soulmates with whom they expected. (SoulmateAU)
1. Doodles

Everyone says you know your soulmate. Like, deep inside, something inside you yearns for their touch, their words, their smile. So everyone, naturally, says it's love. But it's much deeper than that. You can fall out of love with somebody, but that doesn't happen with a soulmate. They're yours forever, and vice versa. Originally, it was really hard to find your soulmate. You could make mistakes, because there wasn't a way to know for sure.

Having just found each other, the original cat and bug decided to make it a little easier for their successors, and cast a spell using both Miraculouses. Unintentionally, the spell affected everyone on earth, not just those destined to be the next wielders. So now there's this method to find your soulmate-you write on your skin. It's said that whatever you write appears on your soulmate's skin, and in this way, you find each other.

Well, nothing worked out the way they expected. Marinette was absently doodling on her wrist in red pen, inking out a ladybug and some abstract swirls. Mme. Bustier was babbling about something or other, and as usual, Marinette was spacing while staring at the board. Daydreaming of-who else?-golden boy.

Adrien filled her thoughts, pushing out anything else that dared flit across her mind. His hair, his eyes, his laugh, his smile-

Only the tingling sensation on her hand managed to kick Adrien out of her subconscious. Marinette, startled, glanced down at her palm. Above her ladybug drawing, someone was inking in orange. Slowly, came the pointed ears, triangular muzzle, and bushy tail of a fox doodle. Marinette froze. Then, above the doodle, came the words, _You like?_

Marinette reached, trembling, for her pen, and wrote, _Yeah, it's cool._

There was a lengthy pause, and just as thoughts of golden boy began to fill Marinette's head again, came the reply.

 _What am I supposed to say? Like, hello, I'm your soulmate, let's go get married?_

Marinette grinned. At least her soulmate had a sense of humor. She wondered who it was. _What's your name?_

 _That's too easy. You have to guess._ The reply had come almost immediately. _Okay, then give me a hint,_ wrote Marinette, and waited.

 _IDK._ _CRAP the teacher's looking. TTYL_

 _Bye,_ Marinette wrote. Then she started to think. She was hoping for Adrien, but...foxes? Why foxes? Her burgeoning disappointment was pushed to the side. Foxes...there was the dimmest of connections she could make to foxes, a gossamer string, but she couldn't quite grasp it.

Meanwhile...Adrien, too, was absently doodling, dreaming about his lady. Her raven hair, her sparkling eyes, her bravery, and her beauty...on his hand, a tiny cat doodle was forming. And, well, you know how this goes. Doodle, doodle, doodle, and then it started to tingle. Absently, the model glanced down, fully intending for his eyes to flick back up again to Mme. Bustier. However, his emerald eyes stayed fixed on his hand as swirls of bright yellow glitter pen decorated his drawing.

 _Hi!_ appeared on his skin.

 _Hi_? he wrote back.

 _So...we're soulmates, then?_

 _I guess._

 _What's your name, anyway?_ Adrien was about to scribble a quick reply when a devilish smile spread across his face. Why not? His soulmate ought to know his secrets, and he didn't have to tell her right away.

 _Chat Noir, at your service,_ he wrote with a flourish.

 _You're joking,_ came the reply. _You have to be joking._

 _Nope._

 _So, I guess you're not transformed?_

 _Nope._ At this, Adrien's soulmate paused for a moment. If Adrien was looking, he would have seen Chloe frowning in concentration at the doodles on her wrist, shooing away a curious and wide-eyed Sabrina.

But he wasn't looking, himself waiting eagerly for his soulmate's reply. Eagerly, you ask? Was he actually entertaining the notion that his soulmate was none other than Ladybug? It would make sense. But there was a sneaking question at the back of his mind that if Ladybug was doodling on her own wrist, why would she be shocked to see the words, "Chat Noir" appear in black ink?

So Adrien did as us mortals do and ignored the thought entirely, shoving it to the dark, cobweb-littered recesses of his mind, where thoughts of his mother and Chloe usually resided. They, however, were shoved out of the way to make room for steadily growing feelings of doubt.

Chloe began scribbling again. _Prove it._ Adrien had expected this, but he wasn't sure what to tell his soulmate.

 _How?_

Chloe sat back and thought for a minute. _Well, since you can't tell me anything "private" about Ladybug that I could verify as true, I guess you'd have to show me._

Adrien swore under his breath. Him and his big mouth, telling his soulmate he was Chat Noir. Or...big...pen? Whatever.

 _Do I have to? Ladybug's going to be mad._

The reply came back almost immediately. _Just tell her first, then. I'm not going to believe you unless you show me, so just tell her._

Now that was an unexpected development. Tell Ladybug…

This is what was going on inside his head right then.

 _What?! Tell her?! But she wants to keep our personal lives separate and I understand her wishes! Because if I tell her, won't she have to tell me too?! I mean, I want to know her identity, but I don't really want to, but I do…_

These thoughts were running around Adrien's skull in a tangled mess, much like Marinette's mind when Adrien was speaking to her. He was, needless to say, very confused.

The tingling began on his hand again.

 _I bet you're freaking out right now, huh?_

 _You have no idea._

 _It's okay. You two have to tell each other sometime, if you are really Chat Noir._

Adrien didn't bother to reply and instead slammed his head on the table, attracting Mme. Bustier's attention.

"Adrien! What are you doing?"

"Nothing, ma'am. Sorry." Mme. Bustier, placated, turned back to her lesson. However, Adrien had succeeded in most of the class's unwanted attention, particularly Marinette's.

"What's up with Adrien?" whispered Alya. "He sure seems out of it." Marinette nodded. "I wonder…"

But we know she had bigger problems to tackle than the cause of Adrien's frustration.

* * *

The bell rang to signal the end of class, but as Marinette and Alya picked up their bags, the journalist grabbed Marinette's wrist and turned it up. "Girl," she said, awed, "you got your soulmate and you didn't tell me?!"

"Maybe," muttered Marinette, blushing, as she tried to yank her arm away from Alya. Alya's grip was surprisingly strong, however, as she held on and read the words, flicking her eyes up briefly to the doodle. "Foxes," she mused. "Who could that be?"

Alya, perceptive as she was, had already figured it out, inwardly grinning at her revelation. _Mari is going to have the shock of her life when she realizes who it is. Better start drafting up my "don't hurt my best friend or I will lop off your head with a chainsaw" speech._

Meanwhile, Nino had already spotted the doodles on Adrien's wrist too, as they exited the school. "Dude, who is it?"

"Nobody!" he blushed, predictably. His hand moved to cover his arm, but Nino wasn't fooled. He also could read upside down, scanning the words "Chat Noir, at your service," and "Prove it". Nino grinned to himself, spotting the opportunity for not only mischief, but verifying his friend's claim. Concealing his shock, he said, "Okay, man, won't pressure you. But just wondering-does the mystery lady have bright blue eyes and freckles?" Adrien, clueless as always, gave his friend a strange look. The poor boy obviously didn't understand Nino's insinuations.

Nino shook his head. "Never mind dude. Gotta flash, I need to meet up with Alya. Catch you later!" Waving, Nino walked off. Shaking his head, Adrien dashed to the slowing form of his father's limo.

Perhaps he shouldn't have written his secrets on his skin for everyone to see, he mused, resolving to wash it off as soon as he got home. He was also hoping against hope that Nino hadn't noticed.

Let's hope he isn't intercepted by Gabriel, hmm?

* * *

 _My best friend is Chat Noir!_ The poor boy was freaking out, and ecstatic though he was, calming down was probably better than blurting out the news for everyone to hear. Nino's hand was tingling, so he looked down to see Alya's messy writing spiraling up his arm. _Mari found her soulmate! And I know who it is!_

 _Yeah, cool. Adrien did too._ Nino decided not to tell Alya until he had confronted Adrien about the "I'm Chat Noir" part.

 _It's not Adrien, Nino._ At this, Nino stopped walking.

 _Who then?!_ Alya, walking with Marinette, started grinning. _Foxes, Nino. Foxes._

Nino doodled a question mark.

 _I'll tell you later._

 _Um, okay dude. See ya_.

 _Watch your step..._


	2. Reactions

**A/N Is anyone else freaking out that season two is going to feature development in the love square and...wait for it...A BIG REVEAL?! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Seriously guys, check out the Miraculous Ladybug wikia on the article for season two! It even cites a tweet from Astruc! EEEEEEEEEEEEE! (I literally jumped up and down the house for a good five minutes, screeching.)**

Marinette lay on her bed, thinking. Foxes? The connection was on the tip of her tongue. Foxes, foxes, foxes. Ugh. Her head hurt. Giving up on her attempt to rip information forcibly from her brain, Marinette sat up and made her way sleepily to her desk. She was flipping absently through her sketchbook, pencil in hand, when a knock came on her window. Glancing over, she spotted a certain leather-bound cat grinning snarkily at her. Marinette opened her window. "What the heck are you doing here?" she asked him, a little annoyed. "Aren't you supposed to be patrolling the roofs of Paris, or something?"

Most of her annoyance, actually, came from the fact that there was no patrol tonight.

Chat, unflustered, continued grinning at her. "I just took a break to check on you, Princess."

Marinette looked suspiciously at him. "Um, why? It's been…" she counted on her fingers, "five whole _months_ since I was last involved in an akuma attack, and I can't find any reason for you to come intruding upon my privacy like this." She was glaring now. Chat was being kinda rude. "I mean, what if I was getting dressed or something?"

Chat turned pink. "Um…" Marinette grinned inwardly. One point to Marinette. "So if you don't have any official business here, I'd like you to leave. Just because you're a superhero doesn't mean you can drop into girls' homes just to say 'hi' whenever you want, especially if you don't know them!" Marinette was glaring now. Why on earth had Chat Noir dropped into her bedroom without a valid excuse?!

"I...um...Marinette…" he stammered.

The bluenette quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I...just wanted to see if you got your soulmate today," he finished lamely. Surprised, Marinette nonchalantly attempted to hide her arm behind her back. "And why would that be any of your b-business?" she asked, stuttering a little, her shield of self-righteous confidence cracking a bit.

"Well, I got mine today, and-" the black cat looked down and blushed madly. "I'll leave now," he murmured, and turned around to leave.

Oh.

 _OH._

He had broken her shield of self-righteous confidence right down the middle. "Wait," she called. Chat Noir looked over his shoulder. "What?" he asked, straightening slightly. "If you must know, I did get mine today too." Marinette turned red. Chat whipped around. "Really?" he asked, his gaze brightening.

Now, if this was a Marichat story, now would be the perfect place to write a truly touching moment about how the two of them gaze at each other in pure wonder as they move, ever so slowly, closer, Chat looking at Marinette's arm and identifying his own writing and then leaning in so their lips touch and fireworks explode and Marinette's parents burst in with looks of disapproval and unicorns eat pickles and aliens take over the world and Mount Everest collapses as I, the writer, start cackling madly as I stare at the computer screen in front of me, at the monstrosity I just wrote.

But this isn't a Marichat story, sadly, so you, my dear readers, will not be able to find the glorious masterpiece I WOULD have wrought with fireworks and pickles and aliens. Instead, you are compelled to read the completely awkward moment that is bound to ensue.

Or, I suppose you COULD avoid it, if you are in the habit of skipping paragraphs of angsty nonsense. Or I could refrain from writing the scene entirely by having Midnight and I burst in, all guns blazing, tranquilize everyone, drag them to Hawkmoth, and have a whole lot of fun. But that would be a very odd story, no? The time Midnight and I burst in with all guns blazing, well, that is a story for another time.

Back to our two favorite hormonal teenagers…

"Well," said Marinette, "but I hardly doubt that you drew foxes." Chat slumped, now feeling completely and utterly awkward. "Yeah," he said, "I didn't. Can you...I remember Ladybug said you were friends with her, can you please pass this on?" Marinette nodded. "Sure." Chat turned to leave once more, and this time, Marinette didn't call him back, blushing furiously, because he had been wrong. Jumping over the roofs of Paris, the wind whipping through his messy blonde hair, Chat was deep in thought. If he wasn't so deep in thought, perhaps he would have realized he was angling for the mayor's hotel, to where Chloe lived.

When life got too stressful for Adrien, he came over to Chloe's room, where they would talk for a while. Sure, it was mainly about Chloe's interests, but he didn't care. Being around her made him feel, at least a little, understood. They had both grown up without their mothers and with dads that made no time for them, so that loneliness...well, it was something Alya, Marinette, and Nino couldn't understand. But Chat didn't notice where his feet were taking him, so when he ended up on the roof of the hotel, he was mildly surprised. And then he decided to pay a certain blonde girl a visit.

Meanwhile, Chloe was also lying on her bed, thinking. She was turning the name _Chat Noir_ over and over in her head. She was sure it was a prank. Definitely a prank. Because she was soulmates with Adrien, forever and freaking always! Right?

She wondered if this what what it had been like when her mom had realized she was soulmates with Andre Bourgeois...NO! She would not think about that!

Sometimes, when she was deep in thought or in a similarly unaware state, the armor she made by perpetually lying to herself was breached. Doubt was something she never experienced in day-to-day life, but sometimes it crept in. Like now, when tiny threads of doubt were snaking along the thought that Adrien was her one, her only soulmate.

Then came a knock on her door. "Ugh, who is it?" she snapped, her armor of self hate and disgust snapping to attention. Did I say self hate? Yes, I said self hate. There are a lot of things the show doesn't tell us about Chloe.

"It's me," came a glorious voice, upon which Adrien opened the door and found a makeup-free and disheveled looking Chloe. "Woah, are you okay?" he asked, slightly concerned at her appearance. "I could leave, if it's not a good time." Chloe's eyes widened. "No, no! It's okay, Adrikins, really," she said hurriedly, and led him into her room.

Adrien had originally come in to tell her about his problems, but now he decided he'd listen to hers. "You okay?" he asked gently. "Yeah, I'm fine," Chloe said, an out-of-character response for the normally haughty and self-absorbed girl. "I got my soulmate today. He thinks he's Chat Noir," she said, and forced her throat to create her typical snotty laugh. To Adrien, it didn't sound right-it sounded more forced than usual.

Oh, did I mention he was kinda freaking out? _Chloe?! It can't be Chloe! It can't possibly be Chloe! We're friends, and not even good ones at that! She's mean, and haughty, and quite frankly a bully, but WHAT AM I SAYING?! SHE'S MY FRIEND!_

Instead, this is what came out of his mouth. "Uhwha?" he muttered incoherently. "Yeah, I can't believe it either," she said dryly. "I thought it would be you, you know?" But then she brightened. "But you don't have to be with your soulmate!" she said excitedly. "We could pretend, couldn't we?! That...that we're soulmates?!" She was beaming up at him. That little glimpse of the vulnerable, doubtful girl underneath her armor was just that-a glimpse. "It'll be difficult, of course," Chloe chattered on. "I'd probably have to bribe a ton of people, but Daddy has the money!" she talked on about her plans for pretending, but when she gasped for air, she glanced at Adrien sitting silently beside her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, then her gaze flicked down to his hand, which he was cradling in his lap.

A quick glimpse of the text was all she needed.

"You already...and it's not…?" Tears were threatening to flood Chloe's eyes, but her armor held them back. "Oh whatever, who cares?! I'm sooooo much prettier, smarter, and _richer_ than any other girl, so it doesn't matter, Adrien, sweetie!" Chloe threw her arms around the model, squeezing him tightly. She began complimenting herself in a variety of different ways, while Adrien, unmoving beside her, looked straight ahead, his brain awhirl.

His mess of a mind finally settled on one thought. _I'll help her. I'll help her become a better person, and then I'll tell her. I'll tell her after._

"Excuse me, Chloe, but I've got to go. See you tomorrow?" he asked, breaking out of his stupor to stand up and make for the door. "Wha...yeah, sure, Adrikins! See you!" Chloe said a bit too perkily. Adrien was already out the door.

In a different bed, in a different house, Lila was staring, contemplating, at the ceiling. Who could it be? No one came to interrupt her musings, however. Not Adrien, nor anyone else. Except, perhaps, her kwami.

 **Chat Jaune: Yeah, we are. It's been a hectic month.**


	3. Spinach

**A/N Chapter Threeeeeeee! I'm totally (not) sorry for the cliffhanger. And this is Aurelia, not Midnight. I think you could tell. And sorry for the hiatus, it wasn't my fault.**

"I have no idea who it is," Lila sighed, listening to her parents argue downstairs. "Don't ask me," said her kwami unhelpfully, "I really don't know. If you're going to mumble and grumble, do it quietly, okay? Imma go listen to your parents arguing."

Lila sat up and glared disapprovingly at her kwami. He shrugged listlessly, and as he floated to the stairwell, he called back, "I'm bored. Your musings aren't helpful."

"And neither are you," Lila grumbled. The brunette flopped back onto her bed with another sigh, still glaring at the receding form of her kwami. Rizzo wasn't very helpful when it came to anything else anyway. She didn't know why she expected his help in the latest confusing matter.

He hadn't been helpful in the first confusing matter. You know, when she got home to see a weird box on her dresser? Upon opening it, the kwami tumbled out, annoyed looking and sleepy. "You're my new holder?" he asked brusquely.

"Uh...wha?" Lila had mumbled intelligently. "Miraculous, idiot," the kwami said, then rolled his eyes. "You've been chosen to be the peacock miraculous holder. Duh. To, like, help save Paris and everything. D'ya have a mirror?" Lila, still in shock had gestured weakly to the bathroom. The pretty blue kwami had floated off and had posed in front of the mirror for a good ten minutes, as Lila turned the peacock brooch over in her hands. "What the heck is this?" she asked he kwami, who had moved on from posing and was now preening his luxuriously long tail feathers.

"A brooch. Derp. You use it to transform into a hero. Just say this long Latin phrase." The kwami floated over and deposited a yellowing piece of parchment in her lap. "Lorem ipsum…" Lila muttered, beginning to read.

She glanced up at the kwami. "And what the heck are you?"

The blue kwami sighed let himself drop gently to the floor, weeping crocodile tears dramatically. "Woe is me, that I have received such an ignorant holder?! Why, Fu, why?! How on Earth could you do this to me?!" He flung an arm over his face and wept for another ten seconds, upon which he sat up, glared at Lila, and asked, "No applause? No shouts of 'Bravo, bravo!' for my stellar performance? I'm a kwami, dunderhead. A minigod." The kwami floated up to eye level and then dropped back onto the bed.

And promptly fell asleep, grumbling incoherently about...what? Spinach? Weird kwami.

Lila sighed. "Say the long Latin phrase to transform, huh?" she muttered. "Better than listening to Mom and Dad argue." She propped her elbow up on her knee and began to read. "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…" It went on and on. Eventually, the kwami woke up in the middle of her lengthy recitation. It promptly started laughing uncontrollably. Lila, intent on finishing the phrase, ignored its giggles and read until the end. The kwami hadn't stopped laughing.

Lila looked down on herself, fully intending to see a...what did she think she would see? A blue superhero suit?

The kwami was still laughing as she spun around, waiting for something to happen. Tired of feeling like an imbecile, she picked up the kwami and shook it. "I've been humiliated as much as possible this past week, and I don't need you to make it worse!" she said fiercely, and dropped the kwami into the trash bin. She promptly closed the lid, curled up into a ball, and hugged herself. The little blue demon appeared in front of her, not laughing at all, as he watched tears slip down Lila's cheeks. Noting the tension in her body, he identified them as genuine tears. _Interesting,_ thought the kwami. _It seems I've got an emotional holder this time. Not like that last weirdo._ He shivered at the thought.

"Yo, don't cry. I was totally kidding about the long Latin phrase. I copy-pasted it from a word document template," he admitted sheepishly. "The real thing is 'Feathers fanned', and for it to work, you gotta wear the brooch."

Lila lifted her head, unruly strands of brown hair framing her face. She gave the kwami her most ferocious glare and stalked back to her bed, fastened on the brooch, and wasted no time in yelling, "Feathers fanned!" to the ceiling. Instantly, glimmering blue light swept over her, and when they dissipated, Lila was left wearing a blue bodysuit with a short skirt made of peacock feathers. She was wearing blue gloves, and a mask made from two sideways feather shapes. Lila twisted her head around to see her back, where she discovered two large fans tipped in metal.

"Woah," she breathed. In her head came the annoyed humming of another voice. That dumb kwami thing. " _Yeah, yeah, don't get too excited. The name's Rizzo, and you're in no shape for actual superheroing. A, you gotta stop that annoying lying habit of yours, and b, you aren't on the level of Paris's current heroes. Go out there now and you'll just be a burden."_

Lila winced. Her new "friend" was brutally honest. She knew it was true, she was nowhere close to being as in shape as she needed to be, but that didn't mean she liked hearing it.

"Rude, much?' she said dryly.

Her kwami gave a smug mental shrug in response. Lila sighed, and detached the two fans from her back. She played with them, already thinking up battle strategies to use. But a question was lurking in the back of her mind, one that she wasn't at all ready to give voice to. So she settle for asking a different question. "So, what's my special ability? Chat Noir and…" she hissed the name, " _Ladybug_ have special abilities that makes their miraculous run out." Rizzo chuckled inside her head. " _Lila, darling, hating Ladybug will get you nowhere with the superheroine. You're gonna have 'ta work with her sometime."_

Lila frowned. "You haven't answered the question," she pointed out. Rizzo sighed. " _It's called Reflect,"_ he said. " _It reflects one attack back at the enemy. By the way, the cat miraculous is the symbol of destruction, the ladybug for creation. The peacock,"_ and at this the kwami mentally grinned, " _is the one for reciprocation and meddling. Your job is to get the main heroes in sync when they have a more difficult that usual relationship. They always end up together, and it's your problem to help that along. "_

Lila glared. "So I'm a matchmaker?!" she asked, royally pissed off.

" _Yup,_ " drawled her kwami. Lila had yelled mentally at Rizzo for a good five minutes when she suddenly paused in her tirade. "How do I matchmake when I don't know who they are?" she asked, confused. " _Oh, you'll figure it out. You were Volpina, right?"_ Lila flushed. " _Your silence gives you away,"_ her kwami smirked mischievously. " _Foxes are very good at sneaking around,"_ he pointed out. " _I've heard it's fun to spy on people. And since you can't become a superhero quite yet, I think that you'll have a lot of free time amidst your training."_

Lila, for the first time since meeting Rizzo, grinned maliciously. It might not endear her to her fellow classmates, but seeing as her reputation was pretty much ruined anyway, who cared?

She certainly hadn't.

"So it begins," murmured Fu. Wayzz popped out from the storeroom. "Master, this has been in motion for a long time. What do you mean?" asked the kwami, tilting his head to the side. If I had the power to control this story, I would totally turn on a radio for "What Do You Mean" (Justin Beaver, yes, BEAVER).

Oh wait. I AM in control of this story.

An annoying song began playing on the radio. Fu glanced over briefly before turning back to Wayzz.

"Aurelia is having too much fun," muttered the man. Wayzz looked more confused. "Parallel universe," said Fu, waving a hand. Wayzz nodded in understanding.

"In answer to your question, this is the beginning of the end," explained Fu. "With the peacock in place, we should expect the two of them to get closer."

As I sit here, typing these words, I am laughing at how _wrong_ Fu is. "I'm sorry old man," I mutter, "but I have to mess with your plans a little bit." And I cackle about what's in store for all of these righteous heroes, oblivious to _my_ crazy plans.

Did I say crazy? I meant deranged.

Back in the present, Lila was absently tracing her arm when new words appeared. She read them eagerly, because though she would deny it, she wanted a friend.

 _Guess who came by?_ Came the swirls of neat handwriting. Lila snorted. How would she know?

 _IDK_ , she wrote.

 _Chat Noir, savior of Paris, dropped by my window (rather rudely) wanting to know if he was my soulmate!_

Lila stared uncomprehendingly. It took a few seconds for her to shake off her stupor, upon which she scrawled, _How are you on such good terms with the black cat himself?_ Poor Lila, she didn't see the clue written on her own skin, plain as day, as to who her soulmate was.

 _Um...IDK. He really shouldn't be poking around civilians' homes._ Lila smirked. _Nope,_ she wrote.

 _Any clue to who you are?_ came the words. Lila paused. _I have brown hair,_ she replied cryptically. In her room, Marinette scoffed and rolled her pretty bluebell eyes. _Half the people here have brown hair,_ she reminded Lila. Lila tapped her pen against her chin. What could she say that was mysterious, but not so mysterious the it was barely a clue? Lila then grinned unexpectedly.

 _I haven't lived in Paris very long,_ she confessed. Marinette grinned and murmured, "Now that's something I can work with."

The two continued their conversation for a while, until Lila had to stop because her kwami was demanding spinach. And for long after she had fed the greedy bird, Lila lay awake, contemplating the ceiling.


End file.
